Saturday, March 29, 2008

Our Time has come....

It was almost a century ago, J N Tata was taking a foreigner to a dinner in Mumbai's Majestic Hotel, but was stopped at the entrance by the doorman. The reason? Only Europeans were allowed in, Indians and Dogs were not allowed.

Half a Century later, The late Sir Winston Churchill predicted that India would break up in just ten years and Said

India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the Equator.

But we survived....

A century later, Time has turned a full circle. A commentator was not very far off when he said

"The sun has not only set on the British Empire but the lights have gone out as well."

Today as a sign of changing times, the Tea Crazed Brits wake up drinking Tata Tetley tea which Tata Tea bought for $540-million in year 2000. They would be driving to office in a Tata Owned Jaguar probably made using Steel from Tata Owned Corus. This week Tata Motors' purchased British luxury motoring icons Jaguar and Land Rover for a sum of 2.3 Bn USD and the Corus Steel which used to be Crown of British Empire was brought by Tata Steel for USD 11.3-bn in year 2007. At Home most probably, His queries on his Banking Account or Complaint about his PC might be answered by a Person India. At Office, Most of the back office work might be done by some firm in India.

Mittal, CEO of Bharti Enterprises summed up the new feeling

"India has arrived and is being accepted by all. Globalisation is a two-way street. Now, it is time for American politicians to realise that globalisation benefits everybody, as the UK has understood"

As if to rub Salt on the Wound, Ratan Tata Magnanimously declared

These brands belong to Britain and they will continue to belong to Britain. Who owns them is not as material as the brands belonging to Britain and the West Midlands

It is Ironic, That a former colony starts buying the iconic industries of the former colonizer, Can we safely call it reverse colonization.